Chapter 25: Tonight (Joseph's POV)

I dont remember my uncles son, he had died when I was fairly little, no one ever knows what had happened to him. I shook it of and then I looked at Padre for a few moments. Then I shook my head, I could not help but believe that everything he was telling me was a lie.

"You know... I don't trust you, and any second now I could yell to the security guard here and he could take you down and you could be back in prison." I said to him. He looked at me and I could see a bit of an afraid look on his eyes for a few seconds but it quickly disappeared.

"I know... You have every right not to trust me. I did know your family, I did not notice you, I just wanted to give you my deepest condolences." He said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, I was staring right into his soul but I could tell for some reason he actually meant it.

"Tell me some more... How do you know my family?" I asked him. He looked at me wondering if I was being serious but then he nodded to me. I sat down at a small little bench that was near one of the changing rooms in the store.

He looked at me and then he sat down beside me. I could tell just by how he was looking around at the area that he was afraid to be in this store. He must have stolen from the as well at one point. I still did not trust him, he had held a knife to Julia's throat that seemed pretty real.

"I grew up around the same area as your uncles son. Your family used to not have all that much money like me. Me and him were close friends, we went and did really dumb things." He began with the story, looking at me to make sure that I was listening. I nodded to him for him to continue.

"The last time I heard from him, he was trying to better his life, I was not doing the same as him and I regret it. Next thing I knew I find out from your uncle that he was gone, then your uncle went into the army and he was gone, now your mother too. I believe that your family is cursed." He said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, it was not the thing I wanted to hear but I also knew that it was the truth.

I nodded to him and then I looked around wanting to stop thinking about all that had gone wrong for me. I wanted to tell Mariah about Padre and about today but I did not want her to know. I shook my head and then I got up from the bench. I looked at Padre and I could see a depressed look and a look of guilt on his face.

I still did not want to have my back turned on him because I still did not trust him and for good reasons. I looked at him and nodded, I just wanted to get out of here, pay for my clothes and then go back home and get some rest.

"How did your mother die?" He asked me, just when I was about to leave and head to the front. I looked at him and wondered if I should tell him the truth. But then I nodded to him, he had been truthful to me so far, even though I still did not trust him.

"She died from apparently my father killing her and lighting her on fire." I told him. He looked at me for a few moments confused, I saw him joggling thoughts through his head and then he nodded to me. I nodded back to him and then slowly turned around and began heading towards the front.

"Fire... That sure seems like dragons, your uncle used to tell me about them, I believed him he had all types of stories at his place telling me about them all of the time." He said to me. I turned around and looked him right in the eyes wondering if he was being serious.

He was looking at the ground and he failed to notice me looking at him, my body went cold and I shivered, I sat there for a few moments. This had to be true and I still did not want to believe it for some reason. I had now heard from multiple sources that they were real.

"My father told me that too, I just thought he was going crazy and did not want to believe him." I said to Padre. He looked up at me for a few moments a bit surprised but then he nodded to me and he then looked back down at the ground.

"Yes... That is what killed your cousin. I had found out about it from your uncle, for a while I did not want to believe it, your uncle went into the army to go hunt them down. He did not have much luck I had heard, but he died with a huge gash on his stomach." Padre said to me. I looked at him dead in the eyes wondering in my mind if he was being serious.

I could tell that he was, and I had never heard that from my mother, she just told me that he was murdered my another person in his group. I never heard about them being a dragon hunting group. I shivered, I had been lied to for so long and now it was waking up to me.

"So, your telling me I was not being lied to?" I asked him. He looked at me in my eyes for a few moments with a bit of a confused look on his face. But then he nodded to me, I shivered once again, everyone had been lying to me for so long, I always thought that they were a myth.

"No... Your uncle told me a lot about him, I have not seen one myself but I do believe him, now that your whole family is gone... Stay safe kid they are coming for you next." Padre said to me. I looked at him and then I nodded, with those thoughts in my head I realized that I needed to get back to Mariah as soon as possible.

"Thank you for telling me that... Will you be at my father's court screening? I need your help to prove to them that my father is not wrong." I said to him. He looked at me for a few moments wondering if it was the best idea. I could not blame him, but if I had to I would testify for him as well.

"If you really want me too I will, just don't make this as a trick to get me back in prison, I will get out. I am trying to better my life." He said to me. I looked at him right in his eyes so that he knew that I was being serious. I then nodded to him.

"I will not, I need your help, no one else will." I said to him. He looked at me with a bit of a grin on his face and then he nodded to me. I was happy for him as well, I had never known how many people I would meet that were friends of my family.

"Good luck kid, stay alive out there. They are coming for you." He said to me. I looked at him and then I nodded to him, there was a bit of a chill going down my body. I then began walking up to the front to pay for the stuff I had gotten from the store.

I looked back at Padre and saw him just staring at the bench, maybe he had heard my fathers story and maybe he was just lying to me. But I could tell just by the look on his face that it could not be true at all. I was afraid now, and I knew I needed to get back to Mariah right away.

I gave the stuff to the guy that was working at the front, the store was fairly empty, it was the time of the day a lot of people were out there working. He began searching through all of it and then he nodded to me.

"That will be 6 coins and 7 silvers." He said to me. I was too busy thinking in my head to listen to what the guy had said to him. He looked at me a bit upset and then he told me the cost of the clothes once again. I looked at him as a way of apologizing at then I payed him 7 coins and he gave me 13 silvers in return.

"Sorry just got a lot on my mind." I said to him. He looked at me a bit upset which surprised me a bit, it was not like there were very many other people in the store, I guess the dude was just having a bad day, not nearly as bad as I was I bet though.

"Yeah... We all are... Now go take your shit and get out." He said to me. I looked at him a bit surprised and I took the bag and did as he said. The security guard at the front had been listening to the whole conversation and he looked at me and nodded his apology to me.

I did not blame the security guy at all, but I made a note that I was not going to go to this story ever again. That was poor business, it was not like they were in a rush to take the next person in line.

I looked back to see if Padre was still there but he was gone, I shivered a bit and then looked around me to see if he was watching me or following me. I then kept on walking back to my place. I trusted what he had told me earlier, it could not possibly be that my father and him were both lying right?

I then wondered why I was walking, I realized that I needed to get back home as soon as possible, I was a bit scared for Mariah right now, she was in danger if what both my dad and Padre had told me was true.

What my father had said just seemed like he was going crazy, but Padre had calmed the waters and he had told me about the same story, he told me that the dragons were not as big as the stories, and my father had told me that they were about twice the size of a human and a bit more bulky.

I put my hand up for a cab to get me a ride back to my place. I knew that it was not the best time of day because a lot of people were at work, and no one was really starting any of their shifts or going out right now around this time of the day.

I also knew that Julia was going to get back from work pretty soon as well, I still wanted to believe what she had said to me, but I could not help but realize that everything I had been told my whole life was all a lie. What really was the truth now?

A cab then pulled up on me and I realized that it was the same cab lady from earlier and I nodded to her and then smiled. She smiled back at me and then nodded for me to get in. Once I was in I told her where I was headed.

First I told her the place where I lived and she looked at me with a bit of a confused glare, but once I told her the grocery place right beside of it she nodded to me realizing where it was at, I could tell that she was a bit new to all of this cab stuff.

I could not blame her, I still felt a bit bad for her, I knew that a lot of people were not paying her because she was a women and they could easily get away with it. I had been told by Jim one time that there was a woman cab rider once that had yelled to the police several times.

They just laughed at her and let the dude keep going. I had also heard several times that they had raped the cab driver and I felt bad for the lady, this would probably not be a fun job to her for very long.

Once we were heading off back to my place I closed my eyes. I did not want to think about all that had been going on with me the last few days. I was tempted to not tell Mariah, but she needed to here the truth, especially if I was going to take our fathers side in the story.

I opened my eyes, realizing that we had stopped. The lady was looking at me and then she nodded when I had opened my eyes. I got out of the cab and then she told me the total. I knew that she had shorted me when she told me it was 10 silver. She was trying to just lower it based on how much I had given her earlier. It was obviously at least 3 coins and I gave her 4. She nodded to me with a bit of a smiled and then she began heading off.

I walked over to Susan and Pops place before Mariah, if there was a dragon coming after us I would here it, my father told me the wings were insanely loud. Im sure everyone nearby would have heard it we were in a busy section of the city.

I knocked on the door. Susan yelled from the front for me to come in, I smiled at her and she smiled back at me when I opened the door. Pop was not there, he usually was the one to go around all of the places and talk to people and clean up so I could not blame him.

"What's up Joseph? You look like you got something on your mind." She said to me. I looked at her and then nodded to her, I then sat down at one of the chairs. She smiled at me and then she nodded back at me for me to talk.

"My father... Well I should tell the part where Padre came in and said he was sorry first." I began telling her the story. She looked a bit surprised to here Padres name but then she looked at me and then she nodded for me to continue on with the story.

"Padre... Doesn't surprise me that he already got out, guess we should hire a security guy at our place." She said to me. I looked at her, she smiled and then I continued to where I had started the beginning of the story.

"Padre... He told me he was friends with my cousin and he said he was sorry and he was going to change." I said to her. She rolled her eyes and then let out a short little laugh.

"Oh... I'm sure he will." She said to me. I looked at her and she looked back at me and she looked a little bit surprised that I was not laughing at well, she realized that I actually believed what Padre had told me. After she found out then she would as well.

"Well... My mother died to a fire... Which sure... You can say my father put something on her... But that is not all." I began telling her. The moment that I told her that it was a fire her whole body let out a bit of a shiver. It basically told me that they had known about the dragons as well.

How? Why did no one want to tell me about them? Should I have not found out about them, if they were really out to kill me and my sister than I should have known about them from the day that I was born.

"My father told me they were dragons... He told me they were not all that much bigger than a human... He said that they killed her with fire and then they ran him down and tried to kill him as well." I told her. She looked a bit scared now but she nodded for me to continue.

"At first I didn't believe it... But Padre came up to me and told me he was sorry and he told me they had to be dragons. He said he was friends with my cousin growing up." I said to her. She looked at me there was a scared look on her face.

"Yes... They are real... You need to ask Jim about them, he knows more about them than us. I did not know that your mother died from fire." She said to me. I nodded to her and then she looked at me with a bit of a sad look on her face.

"My father told me they were coming after me. I want to get back and make sure that my sister is okay." I said to her. She looked at me for a few moments and then she nodded to me. She got off of her chair and came up to me and gave me a hug. I needed it.

"Your family line has something special you need to talk to Jim about it." She said to me. I looked at her and then I nodded. She smiled at me and then she moved in to give me one last quick little hug and then she nodded for me to get out and go check on Mariah.

I got out and then began jogging over to my place. I knew that she would already be dead if I was too late and I would here the dragon coming in the first place. It still made me feel a bit better just to jog up.

I began going up the stairs, everything seemed fine Im sure that my sister was okay... I walked up to the house, I knew that I had a key but I knocked on the door anyways.

I heard someone yell from inside which made me feel a lot better. I sat there for a few moments just waiting for one of them to walk up and open the door. I saw my sister look through the curtains of the kitchen to see who was at the front and then she ran over and she opened the door.

I happily walked in and she gave me a hug when she saw the look that was on my face. I knew that it was not a good look no matter how much I tried to make it look like one. I went into the living room seeing Mariah was sitting on the reclining chair reading one of the books.

I sat down at the other reclining chair right beside her and she moved in real quick and gave me a kiss.

"Joseph... Me and Mariah decided we should go somewhere tonight."